Protests Against Migron Eviction: Bibi is Weak and Unreliable

Hundreds of activists gathered to protest the eviction of Migron. They fingered Netanyahu as being directly responsible.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 8/29/2012, 6:44 AM

Poster blaming Netanyahu for Migron eviction

Courtesy

Hundreds of activists gathered on Tuesday in dozens of intersections across Israel to protest the demolition in the community of Migron and the expulsion of families from their homes.

The protests were organized through a joint effort of the Komemiyut movement and the Shomron and Binyamin residents’ councils. The joint effort has launched a special campaign in recent days aimed at placing the spotlight on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and presenting him as being solely responsible for the eviction of the residents of Migron, despite some of them having legally purchased their land.

As part of the campaign, signs and educational materials were disseminated throughout Israel, and newspaper ads which point the finger at Netanyahu as being responsible for the eviction were published. The slogan of the campaign is: “Bibi is weak and not trustworthy. Right wing leader is needed urgently.”

As protesters swarmed dozens of intersections on Tuesday evening, protest organizer Itzik Shadmi said, “We are certainly putting a big question mark over Bibi’s ability to lead the national camp. It cannot be that the people of Israel chose nationalism and the leader which is supposed to represent it is becoming weak in the face of the radical leftist prosecution.”

The Chairman of Komemiuyt, Musa Cohen, expressed his satisfaction at seeing the public going out and protesting against the eviction in Migron.

“Many have asked me how to stop this eviction, and my reply is: First of all, we have an obligation to protest this terrible thing and secondly we should strive to fix the court system, headed by the prosecution,” said Cohen.

Cohen did not withhold his criticism of Netanyahu, saying, “Anyone who wants to be a superhero over (Iranian President) Ahmadinejad cannot be weak against Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and his deputy Mike Blass.”

The Netanyahu government promised to back the residents in their appeal to the Supreme Court to cancel their eviction because they had purchased the land from Arab owners, but then backed down when Blass decided that allowing the families to stay would not be practical since the rest of the community still is not in Jewish hands.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard the appeal of the 17 families whose land has been bought recently from Arab owners. The hearing ended without a Court ruling. The judges, led by Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, requested to look over the material presented to them before announcing their decision.

The fate of another three dozen residents apparently has been sealed. Migron lost a case, initiated by Peace Now, which successfully challenged previous purchases of all of the land on which Migron is located.

The court ruled in favor of Peace Now even though no proof was brought from Palestinian Authority Arabs that they own the property, located in Samaria.

The residents who will be evicted in any case on Monday filed a request with the Supreme Court, asking that their eviction be postponed until the caravan site in Givat HaYekev, where the residents are to live after their eviction, is completed.

Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan said on Monday that the residents of Migron plan to bring “heavyweight” evidence to the Supreme Court, which proves that they indeed purchased the land in question.

“If there’s objectivity,” he said, “the only sensible resolution is to let the people in those places that we bought to remain on the site. I hope that the deliberation tomorrow will be serious and objective.”